LANSING, MI (WHTC) – A co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party has been named to the state Human Trafficking Commission.
Amanda Van Essen Wirth, a founding attorney of the Hudsonville-based Van Essen and Associates PLC, was appointed to a two-year term, through the first of March, 2019, by Governor Snyder on Friday. A Judge Advocate in the Michigan National Guard and is the attorney Guardian ad Litem for Ottawa County, representing children that have been victims of abuse and neglect.
In replacing Herbert Smitherman, Jr., Van Essen Wirth will represent individuals nominated by the Speaker of the House on the 14-member commission that is charged with making recommendations to the Legislature on improving laws that address human trafficking violations in Michigan. Also tabbed for this panel by Governor Snyder is Western Michigan University public administration professor Dr. Matthew Mingus, Kathy Maitland of the Michigan Abolitionist Project and Judge Michelle Rick of the 29th Circuit Court that serves Gratiot and Clinton counties.
